May 15th, 2014

"Peter, it seems Mr. Stark wants to talk to you," said Jarvis. Peter looked up from the book he was reading. "He requested you come downstairs. He is currently in the living room."

"Is something… wrong?" Peter held his breath, waiting for Jarvis to reply. He was half expecting his dad to say aliens were invading New York again.

"Nothing I'm aware of. Shall I tell him you're going?"

"Uh, sure." Peter stood up, making his way to where Tony was. When he got there, Tony was sitting on the couch which a coffee cup in his hands. "Dad? Did you wanna… talk to me?"

Tony glanced at Peter. "Oh, yeah, kiddo, sit down." He nodded to an empty seat on the couch, and Peter accepted. "Pete, you can calm down; no one's going to kill you."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, good." Tony waited a moment, setting his coffee down. "So, I was talking to your uncle Ben, and- bambino, this is good news, you don't have to look like that."

"Sorry."

Tony cast Peter a worried look but continued. "He thought you should spend the weekend with him. May's out of town for a week, and apparently, crime in New York is low because he's bored. He invited Harley too, but Harley's spending the night at his friend's."

"Oh," said Peter. "Cool! I thought you were gonna say- never mind. Yeah, sure, it's fine with me. Which weekend? This one?"

"Yeah, kid. You cool with that, Bambi?"

Peter nodded quickly. "Yeah! So is he gonna pick me up from school then? Or can I take the subway?"

Tony crossed his arms, giving Peter an are you serious look. "You're twelve. Tell me, what on earth makes you think I'm letting you ride the subway by yourself?"

Peter stood up in an instant, throwing his head back. "Dad, I'm not a kid! Please! You let Harley go on the subway by himself!"

"Harley's fourteen, and he wasn't by himself. He was with his friend from school. What was his name? I wanna say Olaf, but that wasn't it. Besides, it was for his birthday." Tony picked up his coffee mug again. "Point is, Ben's gonna pick you up."

"Okay, fine. Do you know when I'm coming back home?"

"Ben will drop you off on Monday, then Happy will pick you up, and you come back home."

"Got it."

May 16th, 2014

"You two got everything you need?" Tony asked, mentioning the bags both Peter and Harley were carrying. "Toothpaste, pajamas, uh, I don't know, pillows?"

"I have everything," said Harley, rolling his eyes and lifting his backpack in the air, and getting out of the car. "See you tomorrow, Dad."

"See you, kid." Tony looked to Peter next. "You, Bambi? Inhaler, EpiPen? Clothes, toothpaste?"

"Yeah, Dad, I got everything too. Can I go, please? Ned said he has something cool he wants to show me." Peter opened the car door.

"Okay, okay," Tony said, raising his hands. "See you on Monday."

Peter tried his best to get out of school early so finding Ben wouldn't be a problem. But, his teacher 'forgot' classes ended early on Fridays and let them out ten minutes late. He practically ran through the exit sign looking for Ben's car.

"Bye, Peter!" Ned called out as he got into one of the buses. "Good look finding your uncle!"

"Thank you!" Peter continued dodging the people to get through to the pick-up zone. And thankfully, Ben was already there, waving at Peter. "Hi!"

"Hey, Pete," said Ben, unlocking the car doors. "Get in. We don't wanna get caught in traffic." Peter opened the front door and slid in, tossing his backpack to the ground. "How was your day?"

"Good. In science, we did this experiment where we got a potato and used it to power a lightbulb. I mean, it wasn't really big but still. Then, the teacher—Mr. Height—let us try by ourselves." Peter took a deep breath before continuing. "And in math, we did this architecture thing with pencils. We had to make a Da Vinci bridge."

Ben nodded, half listening and a half driving. "Sounds cool. Which do you like more, science or math? If you had to pick."

Peter stared out the window, contemplating seriously between the two options. "Science, I think. Biology is fun, and most of the time, we just do equations in math."

"Makes sense."

"What about you? Did you do anything fun at work today? Did you get to arrest anyone?"

Ben chuckled at Peter. "Nah, I stayed at the desk today. You're a little obsessed with the justice thing, aren't you, Pete?"

Peter shrugged. "Guess I get it from Dad. Anyway, what's for dinner?"

"I win," said Ben, setting down his last card. They'd been playing Uno for the previous few hours, with Ben losing most of the games. Peter groaned, placing his fifteen cards on the table. "Good game."

"Can we play again?" Peter asked.

"We'll see. I say we eat first because the pizza's gonna be here soon." Ben stood up, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. "Fine with you?"

"Uh-huh." Peter gathered the cards, shuffled them, and then placed them in a neat deck at the center of the table. "But, then, can we play?" The doorbell rang.

"Coming!" Ben opened the door, gave the delivery person a five-dollar bill, and was handed a pizza in return. "Thanks." The door shut, and Ben placed the pizza box on the table next to the deck of cards. "I'll make you a deal. We can play while eating, but then watch a movie because it gets too late."

Peter considered it before finally agreeing. "With popcorn."

They played the last game that ended in victory of Peter. Then, he and Ben sat down on the couch and watched a movie of Ben's pick. Peter didn't love the film, but it was fine. Ben clearly enjoyed it.

"Ben…" said Peter as the end credits began to play. "It was nice to come here without an alien invasion or like the end of the world."

Ben had an amused look on his face. "What makes you say that, Pete? We've had fun without it being the end of the world."

Peter shook his head. "I guess, but it's always because Dad is in trouble or lost or something. And I know you live in New York, less than an hour away, but it still feels like I never see you guys."

"I get it. Why don't you come here more then? I'm sure your dad wouldn't mind it as long as we told him."

Peter perked up slightly. "Yeah, okay. I can… I can talk to him about it. Do I have to go to sleep now?" Peter asked. Ben nodded. "Good night then."

"Good night."

May 17th, 2014

The next day, after Peter ate delicious, unburnt (no offense, May) pancakes, he and Ben went to the park. It wasn't a really big one—not like Central Park—but Ben had said he grew up going there. It was (apparently) where he and May had their first kiss.

"What flavor do you want?" Ben asked as they approached the popsicle vendor. It was barely 10:00 am, and they were already eating dessert.

Peter looked at the sign next to the stand that displayed all the options. "Um, can I have a cookie sandwich, please?" The vendor nodded and got one out of the freezer. Ben took his pick, handed the man some money, and they were on their way.

"Where to next?" Ben took a bite of his own. "A friend from work showed me a good place for lunch right here in Queens. We can go there later."

"Sure." They continued walking around the small park as the sun rose higher in the sky. Eventually, after the popsicles were long gone, Ben and Peter walked to the sandwich shop Ben had talked about. Delmar's Deli-Grocery.

Ben waved to Mr. Delmar, who was standing at the counter, talking to another customer. Mr. Delmar gave him a nod in acknowledgment e continuing with the customer. "These are probably the best sandwiches in Queens."

"Really?" Peter looked around the shop. "Why?"

"Just enough bread, Pete." Ben and Peter went to the back of the line leading to the counter. "Just enough bread is key. And the pickles are great too."

"What are you gonna get?"

Ben didn't waste a second answering, his order already memorized. "Number five. With pickles. You?"

"Can I have the same thing?" Peter asked. They moved to the front of the line, and Mr. Delmar gave them a smile.

"Hey, Ben," said the man. "You got someone new with you?"

Ben threw an arm around Peter proudly. "Yup. This is my nephew, Peter." He nudged Peter closer to the counter, beckoning him to say hello. Peter gestured hello and went back to Ben's side.

"And how's your wife?" Mr. Delmar asked. "I saw her the other day when she came by here. Is she Italian?"

"That's her." Ben not-so-subtly avoided the actual question. "Two number fives, please? Right, Pete?" Peter nodded.

"Coming right up." The man behind Mr. Delmar began working on the sandwich while Mr. Delmar himself continued making polite conversation with Ben. Soon after, they got their sandwiches and were already leaving.

May 19th, 2014

The rest of the weekend went by just as quickly. They played board games, watched movies, got more sandwiches, and BAM! it was already Monday.

"Have a good day at school today," said Ben as they pulled up to Midtown.

"I will!" Peter exited the car. "And I'll, um, I'll also talk to Dad about staying at your house more. This weekend was super fun." Ben smiled at that. "Thank you for driving me!" And with that, Peter was gone.

Peter met Harley at the pick-up zone while they waited for Happy to arrive. It was unusual for him to be late like this.

"So, how was your weekend?" Harley asked, sitting down at the curb. Most of the kids had already left by then, with some lingering around for after-school.

"Fun! We went to this sandwich shop near their house, and the sandwiches were seriously amazing. You should've come with us."

"Eh." Harley shrugged. "My weekend wasn't bad, ya know. I'm fine, just hanging out with friends."

"Well, yeah, but you spend all your time with Oliver."

An irritated expression grew on Harley's face. "As if you don't only hang out with Ned. At least I have other friends."

Before Peter could retort, the car finally pulled up. The front window rolled down, and it was Tony sitting there.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

Tony crossed his arms. "What, am I not allowed to pick my kids up anymore?" The car doors unlocked, and they both got in. "Bambi! How was your weekend?"

"Good." Peter had to stop himself from going into a full summary so he could ask Tony about the spending more time at his aunt and uncle's thing. "So, uh, I was thinking, and couldImaybegotoBenandMay'smoreoftenthanIdonow?"

"I did not understand a word of what you said," said Tony, chuckling. Peter turned to Harley to see if he understood, but Harley was completely uninterested in the conversation. "Go again."

"I was wondering if I could maybe spend another weekend at May and Ben's?" Peter said slowly. "Because we really only like hang out when you're fighting like a monster or something."

"Peter–"

"Sorry! It's not that I don't like spending time with you. I do!" Peter rambled. "We have a lot of fun in the lab and stuff, but it's also cool to hang out at May and Ben's, and since we live kinda close to them now—well, not super close, but closer than before–"

"Peter, of course, you can go there more often. It's my fault. I just forget they live so close. I'll make you a deal. Once a month, you can spend a weekend there, like you did now, okay?"

"Really? Yeah, okay! Thank you, Dad!"

"No problem, Bambino."